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Spin Magazine Halts Print Production

Music isn’t the only medium that’s been affected by the internet (for better or worse). With it becoming easier to consume news and editorial content on the web, more and more magazines are starting to limit or completely shut down their print publications. Now Spin Magazine has become the latest magazine to pull the plug on the print production.

After 27 years, Spin officially announced that Buzzmedia (who purchased the publication back in July) would stop printing the magazine. Spin issued the following statement on the matter:

“Following the September/October issue, SPIN has halted publication of our print edition to invest more deeply in our digital properties, including SPIN.com, SPIN Play for iPad, and SPIN mobile. SPIN has been a pioneer in music journalism since 1985 and we hope you’ll continue to enjoy our leading editorial, photographic, and multi-media content online. Special arrangements have been made with alternative publishers to fulfill your SPIN print subscription for the remaining term: you will automatically receive your new magazine in the mail, with the option to ask for a full refund. We appreciate your patience during the transition of your subscription.”

Shortly after purchasing the publication, Buzzmedia dropped plans to release issues of Spin in October and December and announced plans to shift the magazine to bimonthly. Now, though, Spin will only live on digitally.

Granted, Spin has mostly catered towards alternative and indie music, although their “top 20 metal albums of 2012” list was pretty good. However, Spin’s move towards digital-only further highlights the threat print publications currently face (and not just music journalism either).

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1 Comment

I fear for the lives of most print journalism period with the growing dependency on the cyber world to deliver all the reading material for us. Even I succumbed eventually to Kindle, and I have to admit it’s great for its portability and saves enormous space in my home. Still, in a power outage, widespread and long lasting, what will so many people who have probably forgotten how to read a book do if it isn’t on a screen? This world would be crippled should something happen to the internet and all its spinoff technology.

Not that I exactly yearn for the days of reading by a fireplace on the back of a shovel, but we are slowly losing the ability to improvise, think and react rationally in hard times. It’s a very contradictory time in the evolution of our species.

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